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Mason County's Middleton signs to play basketball at Georgetown
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By DAN HOPWOOD Sports Editor
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Russ Middleton, the point guard who teamed with Mr. Basketball Darius Miller and standout forward Trevor Setty to lead Mason County to the 2008 Kentucky state basketball championship, took care of some important business Friday.
Middleton signed a letter of intent to play his college ball at NAIA power Georgetown College.
The senior's choice was no surprise.
"We've known it for a while," said Mason County athletic director Fred Hester, who introduced the principals Friday in a ceremony in the Mason County High School library.
Attending the ceremony were Middleton's parents, Kelly and Mary Middleton; Georgetown coach Happy Osborne and some of his staff, plus classmates, coaches and teammates.
"Russ, for us, was a high priority," said Osborne, who has been at Georgetown for 29 years, 13 as head coach. "In my opinion, we signed the best guard in the state of Kentucky."
Middleton said he was glad to get the signing out of the way early. "We can't have any distractions this year," he said.
The lack of drama was understandable. Middleton was practically born to play at Georgetown. Both his father and his coach, Chris O'Hearn, played basketball for the Tigers.
"He knew all along where he wanted to go," said O'Hearn.
Middleton thanked his family, his coaches and even his homeroom. And he thanked his teammates.
"Winning a state championship is something we'll remember for the rest of our lives," Middleton said.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Middleton has spent the summer playing AAU basketball and said the experience will benefit his game. He said he has improved his strength, worked more on his scoring and, with the help of a new sports trainer, has gotten a hamstring injury that has plagued him since his freshman year almost back to 100 percent.
Middleton knows that the Royals will be looking to him for leadership and to put points on the scoreboard now that Miller has moved along to the University of Kentucky. He averaged almost 20 points a game for his AAU team this summer, playing point guard and shooting guard.
"People underestimate how good we're going to be," Middleton said. "I think we'll shoot the ball a lot better."
His future coach, Osborne, said that Middleton is "going to a place where he can win a national championship."
Osborne should know: He took the Tigers to the 1998 NAIA crown. Georgetown was ranked No. 1 in the final NAIA national poll last season.
Said O'Hearn: "Russ is everything we want a Mason County basketball player to be," pointing to his leadership on the court and off, where Middleton is an honor student with a 3.79 grade-point average. "We're expecting big things from him."
At Georgetown, Middleton will be joining a program that likes to recruit the Bluegrass State. Osborne said that 13 of the 17 players in the Tigers' program this year are from Kentucky. Among them is Middleton's former teammate Setty, who is beginning his freshman season. |
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